Tom,
I have not seen any of these cars in actual consists that have been posted. You might recall the recent Trains magazine article about the BN merger. In the article, it says the BN had no online auto plants that it served. That reduces the possibility of
these cars showing up regularly on the Q. The Q did contribute cars to auto plant and auto part pools. The recent Operations SIG publication Dispatchers Office had a several page article by Brian Holtz about RBL pool cars for the Schlitz breweries. The railroads
made money on these cars because they were in constant service, paid daily per diem, and often never saw their home rails. I've read in books and articles about the GB&W that many auto parts cars to the Twin Cities would take the Ann Arbor ferry across Lake
Michigan to the GB&W. It avoided the Chicago congestion and was faster. That was the primary lifeblood of the GB&W. They could easily turn these cars over the MILW at Winona. When deregulation came, the railroads changed rate structures and that was the end
of the ferries and pretty much the beginning of the end of the GB&W as then existed. There was also a C&O ferry to Milwaukee which cars could be turned directly to the MILW for hauling to Ford plant in the Twin Cities.
Bill Hirt
Does anyone know what routes the longer 60' and 86' auto parts box cars might have traveled on the Q?
I cannot recall seeing photos of any of these long boxcars running between Chicago and Mpls/StP. It got me to wondering if there were any auto plants along the line or at either end that would be serviced by these longer cars. That might account for not
seeing any photos or references.
Has anyone ever researched this or does anyone recall photos of these long box cars running on the C&I in the late 1960's?
Tom Mack
Cincinnati, OH